I miss Kiara ... but Queca is pretty cool ...

I finally got to go hiking a couple of weeks ago. I must admit that putting in to practice what I´m learning in photo class is MUCH tougher with moving objects/everyday life. However, I also realized that I truly love landscape shots.

I went with a couple of friends to El Parque Regional de la Cuenca Alta del Manzanares (The Regional Park of the High Basin of Manzanares). Note that the ´z´in Manzanares is pronounced ´th´... ManTHanares. The óh, so confusing´Spanish accent. For short, everyone calls this hike, La Pedriza´{La PedriTHa} --- (The Heap of Loose Stones).

You should first meet Queca ... the ´c´ sounds like a ´k´. She belongs to Ruth and Sergio. She´s young and very, VERY active. As I spent the day with her I missed Kiara (back in Los Angeles) more and more. I now realize I will have a dog at some point in my lifetime. It´s necessary.

This is the first shot of the day, Queca having the time of her life:

(fast shutter speed)

Here are my hiking buddies. From left to right: Ruth, Sergio, Raul & Fernando.

Look at how blue and clear the sky is ... ah, fresh air!

Here I am. My hiking buddy didn´t realize that my camera was in Manual mode. So as you can see the image is underexposed. Thankfully I discovered the EXPOSURE tool in Photoshop CS3. I can´t wait until the school actually starts to teach us Photoshop. They gave us a textbook and everything! See the corrected image below.

Fernando and Raul, pretending they know how to rock climb. ; P

Final shot of thge day. Queca, finally relaxing a bit.

Fun times were had by all.